Peeping Tom’s Mike Patton has ventured into the world of film as the voiceover for the menacing cannibalistic creatures in ‘I Am Legend’.
The film is based on the 1954 sci-fi novel by Richard Matheson and focuses on Will Smith’s character, the sole human survivor of a manmade plague fighting to survive against its mutated victims.
“It came out of the blue,” says Patton. “The film’s producers and sound people wanted the creatures in the movie to sound somewhat human, but not the standard. I guess what most movies in that genre use are pitch-shifted animal sounds and stuff like that. But they wanted this to sound closer to a human being, and they thought, ‘Why don’t we contact some musicians?’ I guess they called a few guys and they ended up with me.”
Patton compared his time recording the voiceovers to his improv gigs, the only difference being the film footage was in front of him on a screen to inspire him. “I improvised the whole thing over a four-hour whirlwind, and it was a lot of fun,” Patton adds.
“I’ve always been interested in film, so to get involved in any way in the genesis of making a film or music for a film is fascinating to me,” he added. “I sat there with my mouth open the whole time. To get a chance to do what I do and have it integrated into a gigantic project like that was pretty cool.”
